The Donegal County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Dhún na nGall) or Donegal GAA is one of the GAA's 32 county boards in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Donegal. The county board is also responsible for the Donegal inter-county teams. There are currently 40 clubs under the auspices of the Donegal County Board.[1][2]

The first Donegal County Board was formed in 1905,[11] with its first football game being against Derry on 17 March 1906. Also in 1906, the county won its first major trophy, the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, when Donegal overcame Antrim in the final, held at the Moss Road hurling field, by a scoreline of 5-15 to 0-1.[12] Donegal made their first appearance at Croke Park on Sunday 6 April 1952. The occasion was a National Football League semi-final and their opponents that day were Cork.[13]

The county came to the fore of Ulster football in the 1970s, winning their first Ulster Senior Football Championship in 1972. The win coincided with the county's first All Star—in the form of Brian McEniff—in the second year of the award's existence. Reigning All-Ireland champions Offaly defeated the Ulster champions in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final on the way to their second consecutive All-Ireland title.

A second provincial title followed for Donegal in 1974. Galway, All-Ireland finalists in 1971 and 1973, defeated them in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final.

Donegal won a third provincial title in 1983. Again they were beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final, ahead of what would become a notorious 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, known as the "Game of Shame".

In 1990, Donegal defeated Armagh in the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final. Eventual All-Ireland champions Meath beat them in the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final. However, Donegal would win the Ulster Senior Football Championship Final again in 1992. As a result of this victory an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final against Mayo beckoned. Donegal overcame the men from Mayo to set up a 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final meeting with raging-hot favourites Dublin.

Donegal's greatest footballing accomplishment yet was realised on 20 September 1992 when they defeated the highly fancied Dublin by a scoreline of 0–18 to 0–14 to take the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time. Brian McEniff, serving in his second spell as Donegal manager, pulled the strings. Man of the Match Manus Boyle scored 0–9 (four from play), while Gary Walsh pulled off a great save from Vinny Murphy at the end.

This was the zenith of this great Donegal team who contested five successive Ulster Senior Football Championship Finals between 1989 and 1993. The Donegal team of this era also contested the final of the National Football League three times in a four-year period (1993 v. Dublin, 1995 v. Derry, 1996 v. Derry) without success. McEniff soon stood down as manager.

Martin McHugh wanted to take charge of Donegal after McEniff left the job. However, he was prevented from doing so by the Donegal County Board in a snub that would be echoed in Jim McGuinness's numerous later attempts to get the same job—McGuinness was, however, ultimately successful; after being rejected by the Donegal County Board on several occasions he would go on to be Donegal's most successful manager since McEniff. McHugh was hurt by his rejection, saying: "I thought there was another All-Ireland in Donegal and that's why I went for that job. I thought there was another All-Ireland there, and there was a lot of good players coming too. But anyway, that's the way it worked out".[15]

Mickey Moran was appointed manager on a three-year term in August 2000, succeeding Declan Bonner.[16] During his tenure selector Michael Houston quit after a public falling out with Moran.[17] Moran's first year in charge of Donegal was a disappointing one, but 2002 was more successful, leading Donegal to the Ulster final (where they were beat by Armagh) and then to the All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.[18][19] However in September 2002 he informed the county board he would not be staying for the third year of the term.[18]

Brian McIver was appointed manager in 2006. His tenure saw a slight improvement in the fortunes of the team as he led them into Division 1 of the National Football League. However, the county had been without a trophy for 15 years. They had contested the 1993 and 1998 Ulster Senior Football Championship Finals, but lost to Derry on both occasions. Defeat to Armagh in the same contest in 2002, 2004 and 2006 meant another decade passed without a Championship trophy. They contested the 2006 Division 2 Final, but lost to Louth. The famine came to an abrupt end in 2007 when the senior football team won the National Football League title for the first time in the county's history. Donegal overcame Mayo at Croke Park on Sunday 22 April 2007 with a score line of 0–13 to 0–10. On-route to the final Donegal defeated Cork, Mayo, Tyrone, Dublin, Kerry, Fermanagh and Kildare while drawing with Limerick.

McIver stood down as manager after the 2007 Championship; however, he was reinstated before the beginning of the 2008 Championship. In 2008, at a County Board meeting, a motion of no confidence was tabled by the Saint Eunan's and Gaoth Dobhair clubs; as a result McIver felt compelled to resign.[20][21]Declan Bonner and Charlie Mulgrew were appointed "Joint Managers" when John Joe Doherty of the Naomh Columba club was said to have rejected the opportunity to become manager. However, Doherty entered negotiations before Bonner and Mulgrew were rubber stamped. He was later offered the job for a second time, which he accepted. Bonner and Mulgrew had contested that the procedure which led to the installing of John Joe Doherty as football manager in the county was flawed. The duo's case was heard November 2008 but had taken 13 days of deliberation for the DRA to reach a verdict. John Joe Doherty was appointed manager at the November county board meeting.[22]

In 2010, after a disappointing Championship, in which Donegal lost at home to Down after extra-time, and to Armagh in Crossmaglen by nine points in the first round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers, John Joe Doherty resigned from his post as senior football manager.[23] The only candidate to replace him was a man called Jim—Jim McGuinness. Upon his appointment on 26 July 2010,[24] McGuinness brought Kevin Cassidy and Michael Hegarty out of retirement, introduced many players from the U-21 side he had taken to the 2010 All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship Final, and introduced structure and discipline, a feature that many observers[who?] claimed was lacking in many talented Donegal teams between 1993 and 2011.

McGuinness's first major success as senior manager was to win the National Football League Division 2 when they beat Laois in Croke Park by 2–11 to 0–16 points.[25] They went through the league season unbeaten, except for the last league match proper, when they lost to Laois.[26] Before the Division 2 Final, they had topped the Division 2 league and were guaranteed promotion with four wins, two draws, and one loss.[27]

After this victory, expectations for the county were high, with many pundits predicting that Donegal would win the Ulster Championship.[28] Donegal beat Antrim 1–10 to 0–07 in the preliminary round.[29] This was the team's first Championship win since 2007. This set up an away match against Cavan from which Donegal once again emerged victorious, by a scoreline of 2–14 to 1–08. Donegal beat Antrim 1–10 to 0–07.[30] A more ominous test against Tyrone would follow this Cavan victory. The new defensive system developed by Jim McGuinness would be put to the test against a Tyrone team which perfected the blanket defense tactic on the way to three All Ireland victories in the 2000s. Donegal fought their way to a 2–06 to a 0–09 win.[31]

This set up an Ulster Final meeting against a heavily fancied Derry, which one week prior to Donegal's victory over Tyrone, put 3–14 past an Armagh team which had just overcome Down, the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship runners-up.[32]

On 17 July 2011, in Clones, Donegal played in their first Ulster final in five years and their sixth Ulster Final since 1992. In front of a crowd of 28,364 Donegal beat Derry by 1–11 to 0–08 points. This was only the third time in the history of the Ulster Senior Football Championship that a team which played the preliminary round would win the Final. Armagh did it in 2005, and Cavan did it 66 years earlier. All the more impressive is that Donegal did not concede more than nine scores per match on the way to the final and held Antrim, Tyrone and Derry to only three points each in the second halves of their respective matches. As of 22 July 2011, the county has the lowest average conceding rate in the country at 8.75 points per game.[33] On 30 July 2011, Donegal travelled to Croke Park to play Kildare in their first All-Ireland quarter-final in two years. The game began quite poor in the first half but the second half proved to be more tense as sub Christy Toye scored the only goal of the game. However, Kildare brought the game level to drag it to extra-time. As Donegal still looked to be behind, two late points from Christy Toye before a long range kick from Kevin Cassidy sealed the Ulster champions in front deep into injury-time. Just as Kildare thought about forcing a replay the final whistle blew to guide Donegal to their first All Ireland semi-final since 2003. The semi-final against Dublin, which Dublin eventually won 0-8 to 0-6, was to be regarded as one of the lowest scoring but most absorbing Championship duels in living memory.[34]

On 22 July 2012, Donegal retained the Ulster title for the first time in its history with a 2-18 to 0-13 victory over Down.[35] On 5 August 2012, they defeated Kerry. The first ever Championship meeting between the sides at senior level, it was only the second time in history that Kerry had been defeated at this stage.[36] Ahead of their next match against Cork, nobody outside the county gave Donegal a chance, and Cork went into the game as heavy favourites to win the title itself (even though this was only the semi-final). Donegal endeavoured to swat aside a lacklustre Cork side with ease and progressed to their first title decider since 1992.[37] Tyrone's Mickey Harte, attempting to analyse the game for the BBC, expressed his shock: "To be honest, I could not see that coming. Donegal annihilated Cork, there is no other word for it."[38] Martin McHugh, a member of the successful 1992 side, said it was the best ever performance by any Donegal team including his own.[39] Donegal emerged victorious from the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on 23 September 2012 to take the Sam Maguire Cup for the second time, with early goals from Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden.[40]

In July 2010, Jim McGuinness, the then under-21 manager, was appointed as county senior manager, succeeding John Joe Doherty.[41] McGuinness guided the county's under-21 side to the All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship final in 2010. He was appointed to the senior management on a four-year term, with a review after two years. His first year in charge brought Donegal the National Football League Division 2 title, promotion to Division 1, the county's first championship win in four years, the county's first provincial title in 19 years, and made Donegal the third team in the history of the GAA to win a Provincial Title from the Preliminary Round. His second season brought a second consecutive provincial title, also achieved from the Preliminary Round, as well as a defeat of the mighty Kerry at Croke Park and with the win over Cork on 26 August to secure a place in the 2012 All Ireland Football Final, it looks like Jim won't have to worry about that review after all.

Though hurling clubs are present in Donegal, there has been limited success for Donegal's hurlers at inter-county level. Donegal have three senior and four junior Ulster hurling titles, the last senior win coming in 1932.

Donegal has a residue of pre-GAA hurling. The Burt Hibernians brought Donegal the 1906 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, defeating Antrim by 25 points to one. Burt later played in Derry. In 1923 Donegal fielded a team of three natives augmented with Gardaí and customs officers from hurling counties to win their second Ulster Senior Hurling Championship. When they lined out for the semi-final, wearing blue jerseys against Limerick on a cold, miserable day in Croke Park, numbers were worn by the players for the first time to help the spectators to distinguish them. They trailed 5–4 to nil at half-time and lost 7–4 to 0–1.

Donegal competed in the Ulster Senior Championship from the 1930s, hosting Antrim in Letterkenny in 1945. They succeeded in fielding a league team in the 1980s, drawing on the groundwork at Loreto, Letterkenny which fielded successful colleges teams. The Pan Celtic games of 2006 rejuvenated camogie in Donegal and the county returned to competition in the Ulster Junior Championship in 2008.[53]

Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010–2015, "Our Game, Our Passion,"[54] it has been announced that Donegal, Kerry, Mayo and Monaghan are to receive a total of 14 new clubs by 2015.[55]

^Comack, Tom (7 September 2010). "County Board Briefs". Donegal Democrat (Johnston Press). Retrieved 7 September 2010. Thirteen of the county's 40 clubs still do not have their registration paid and they were urged to do as a matter of urgency after the matter was raised by Dungloe delegate, Aideen Gillen, who asked should these clubs be competing in competitions. However, treasurer Grace Boyle stated that while the clubs do not have the registration paid they are registered with Croke Park.

^McNulty, Chris (7 March 2013). "Clubs pledge €81,000 funding". Donegal News. Retrieved 7 March 2013. Donegal's forty GAA clubs have committed to contributing €81,000 to the county's coffers by August 1st to assist in a number of projects, not least the ongoing development work at Sean MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey.

^Moran, Seán (9 November 2012). "McGuinness move would be huge blow to Donegal". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). Retrieved 9 November 2012. Whereas the GAA has sustained a modest loss of players to the AFL over the years this is the first time that a top-rank inter-county manager has been offered a job in professional sport. McGuinness is unusual in the ranks of All-Ireland winning managers in that he has extensive academic qualifications in both sports science and sports psychology, in which he holds a masters degree.

^O'Shea, Joe (27 August 2012). "Donegal one step from Sam after 20-year wait". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 27 August 2012. Cork never really got going. Outnumbered, out-sung and watching a supposedly "negative" team suddenly transform themselves into the FC Barcelona of Gaelic football, the Rebels were left muttering about "lads who didn't show up" and a manager who, to many of them at least, made some questionable calls...

^"Jimmy's like Messi! Donegal are the Barcelona of GAA, say Cork legends". Donegal Daily. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. Double All-Ireland winner Tony Davis stood by his insistence that Donegal played awful defensive gaelic football last year. But he has changed his mind now about this year's team – and reckons Donegal play GAA the way Barcelona play soccer!

^"Donegal Topple Kerry to Set up Semi with Cork". 98FM. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012. Karl Lacey's injury-time point booked a date with Cork for the Ulster champions, who handed Kerry only their second-ever All-Ireland quarter-final defeat.

^Hannigan, Mary (27 August 2012). "Donegal may be in a league of their own, but no it's not rugby". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). Retrieved 27 August 2012. Over on BBC Northern Ireland they were no less befuddled... "Predictions?" asked Austin O'Callaghan. Jarlath [Burns of Armagh]: "Cork." Mickey [Harte of Tyrone]: "Cork." Paddy [Bradley of Derry]: "Cork." [...] Final whistle. "Well?" asked Austin, but his guests didn't really know where – or how – to start.

^"Durack ready for action". Hogan Stand. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013. According to manager Ray Durack, the squad has put in a huge effort so far this year in a bid to make up for last year's shortcomings.